


Eternity's End

by raendown



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-23
Updated: 2018-01-23
Packaged: 2019-03-08 17:35:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13463157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raendown/pseuds/raendown
Summary: Tobirama has been haunted by an ancient legend for most of his life and only when he is well in to adulthood does he decide to chase its origins. Maybe if he finally understands where the legend began then he might understand why it fascinates him so.





	Eternity's End

Tobirama couldn’t remember in the slightest where he had first heard the story, picking up bits and pieces as the years went by and never quite able to let the idea of it go. Childhood passed in to adulthood and again and again the myth came back to him in storybooks and movie themes until finally one day he decided that enough was enough. He needed to get to the bottom of this once and for all, find the truth out for himself. Barely a week later he had packed a bag and boarded a plane, heading for a small country that seemed almost forgotten by time itself.

Weeks it had taken him to hike his way through treacherous mountains to find a small village almost entirely cut off from the rest of the world. Here was where he had tracked the origins of the story to and he was a little surprised that it had taken him less than half an hour to find someone willing to guide him to the shrine about which he asked them. Perhaps he should have found it suspicious, her eagerness, but all he could think about was how close he was to answers, to the end of the mystery which had haunted him for as long as he could remember.

He asked his guide to recount to him her version of the story while they walked along overgrown paths. It seemed to him that word of mouth would have changed the myth over the years as it made its way around the globe. Surely here, where it had all began, he would find the purest version. With a mysterious smile on her face, his guide acquiesced. As they walked she spun him a vision.

_“Legend tells of a time long ago when our people still remembered the old magics of the earth. Two men wielded power greater than any others, one the power of water and one the power of fire. Great compliments they were to each other and so easily did they fall in love but they had been born of different clans whose people were at war._

_They met one day at the top of the mountain by an ancient shrine to one of the Old Gods. It was a place of great power, the place where they had first declared their love for one another, and it was the only place where they knew they would be safe from those who sought to keep them apart._

_As soon as he laid eyes on his love, the elder of the two knew that something was wrong._

_‘You are unhappy,’ said he and his companion agreed._

_‘My people have discovered us. We are leaving these lands to go find our place elsewhere in the world. From henceforth will we be separated.’_

_The elder, who wielded the power of the fire, beseeched his love to stay with him and make their own paths together. But alas, he who wielded the power of water had a brother whom he loved dearly. To stay with one was to abandon the other and he was torn, unable to decide what to do._

_‘Go then,’ said the elder. ‘Be with your brother and may you find happiness until you return here to me.’_

_The younger was confused and distraught. He was unsure if he would ever be able to return in this lifetime or even in the next. But the elder comforted him with a smile and a gentle touch._

_‘I would wait one thousand lifetimes for your love.’_

_With that he knelt upon the earth from which all drew their power. Upon his knees, he looked up in to the face of the one to whom he had given his heart and he called to the Old God of fire whom he had always served faithfully, asking of them a favor. His prayers were heard and in moments he was turned to stone, unmoving and everlasting._

_He remains there to this day, steadfast in his determination to await the return of his one true love.”_

Tobirama was startled back to the present as his guide stopped speaking, blinking out in to the forest around them in surprise. As she spoke he had felt as though he could see it all happening right before his eyes. In those moments he had been sure he could have said exactly what the two lovers looked like, what the air had smelled of on that fateful night, how the chill of winter had pricked at their skin.

Back in reality the day was warm and he could felt droplets of sweat gathering at his temples as they came to the base of a steep set of stairs. He had already climbed up several steps before he realized that his guide was no longer there at his side. When he turned to check and see where she was he discovered that she had turned back, already a dozen feet away down the path. Just before she could disappear around a bend in the forest he called out to her, prompting her to turn and arch one brow at him over her shoulder.

“Where are you going?” he demanded. Something wild clamored around the edges of her answering grin.

“I’m returning to my village. You don’t need my help to find your way up one teensy little staircase, do you?”

“Well…no. I guess not.” She turned to leave again and Tobirama called out one more time. “You never told me your name.” Each time he had asked she had managed to dodge the question without him noticing somehow. Now she laughed with her head thrown back, red hair swirling behind her like an entity of its own.

“Kushina. My name is Kushina and I am the keeper of the path to Kurama.”

Before he could ask who or what Kurama was, the woman was gone. Huffing in irritation, Tobirama turned and stomped his way up the stairs. Sure, the way back was fairly straightforward and he was certain that he wouldn’t get lost, but it was still incredibly rude of her to just leave him here – and without even escorting him all the way to his destination! Obviously she wasn’t used to being hired as a guide if she didn’t even know the proper etiquettes for the job.

For some reason it felt as though the stairs took longer than they should have. His legs felt as though he had been climbing for hours before he got anywhere near the top and yet when he checked the sun it had barely moved. Shaking his head, Tobirama ploughed on until at last he reached the top and stepped out on to a small plateau, the very top of the mountain.

Directly across from him there was a large grotto carved in to the last bit of cliff face reaching towards the sky, tucked in to which was an intricately carved statue of a giant fox. Something about the fox seemed mischievous and intelligent, yet he also seemed to carry a great anger in his face and around the massive ears that were pinned back against his skull. Tobirama stared at the statue for a long time before his gaze fell lower and he felt himself drawn forwards by some inescapable force. This was it; this was what he had come for.

At the fox’s feet rested the statue of a man, perfectly proportioned and so detailed he looked ready to stand and draw breath. Kneeling on the ground just as the legends said of him, his chin was raised to lift his gaze towards something above him. Upon his face was carved such an expression of longing and love that Tobirama felt his heart stutter inside his chest.

His feet were moving without thought, bringing him closer and closer to the stone man, and as he drew near Tobirama found his hand aching to reach out. Something called to him, to something deep down within his soul, and he was powerless to do anything but answer it.

Stopping just in front of the statue, Tobirama looked down and found that because of where he had come to rest the man’s gaze now looked directly in to his own. For some reason, he imagined that they would be incredibly dark eyes. The wild hair that flowed so long it brushed the ground would be black as night – and soft, as soft as the finest silks. When he spoke his voice would be deep and his anger terrible yet beautiful to behold.

As though in a dream, Tobirama saw his hand reach out and didn’t even think to stop it. Without knowing why he found his palm sliding across the jaw of the stone man, cupping his face in what could only be described as a loving touch.

Warmth met his fingers, smooth skin instead of rough stone, and memories rushed in to him at the exact same moment that the stone began to melt away underneath his touch. Dizziness took hold of him and he closed his eyes, swaying on the spot as entire lifetimes rushed by inside his mind, decades and eons passing all in an instant, each filled with more and more loneliness than he wished to comprehend.

Just when he thought he might faint from the stress of it a hand placed itself over top of his, grounding him and calming the maelstrom inside.

Tobirama opened his eyes to see another dark set of eyes staring back at him from above a soft and loving smile. Black hair shifted in the light wind and the scent of smoke drifted about the clearing, filling him with a nostalgia that was barely his own.

“Madara,” he breathed in wonder. In this life that name had never once passed his lips and yet the very sounds of it were carved deeply in to his heart.

“I knew eventually that you would return to me. And here you are, just as beautiful as you were in your first life.” The man’s voice was the booming of thunder and the crackling of fire. Memories settled ever deeper in to his consciousness and when he replied, Tobirama found that his own voice was the crashing of waves and the roar of surf.

“Patience isn’t like you, Madara,” he said teasingly.

His lover of ages past, the man who had been cast in stone for countless millennia, rose slowly to his feet. Their hands stayed clasped as Madara stepped forward, looking at him as though he were the most precious thing in all of the universe.

“I would have waited for you forever.”

“Dramatic,” Tobirama accused him. Then he leaned forward to breathe in the scent of his lost love. “I missed you.”

“I love you,” Madara countered. “Always.”

Tobirama smiled and before he pulled the man in for a kiss, he agreed, “Always.”


End file.
